Method of treating steel car-wheels.



B. E. SLICK. METHOD OF TREATING STEEL GAR WHEELS.

- Patente d Mar. 11, 1913.

E S S .WMWH

EDWIN E. SLICK, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF TREATING STEEL CAR-WHEELS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar, 11, 1913.

Application filed December 12, 1907. Serial No. 406,182.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, EDWIN E..'SLI01 of Pittsburgh, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, have invented anew and useful Method of Treating Steel Car-Wheels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a sectional view showing a worn steel car wheel; Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the preferred method of rerolling or re -forging to re-form the flange and tread, to give the wheel its proper diameter and shape.

My invention relates to utilizing wornout steel car wheels, which have either been worn with fiat spots or have been uniformly Worn down to less than the desired diameter, or have otherwise been rendered unfit for further use. These Wheels are ordinarily worked up into scrap for charging at the open hearth, and hence are of small value.

My invention is designed to utilize these wheels by re-forging or re-rolling them, and thereby re-shaping the flange and'tread and preferably increasing the diameter. I thus convert the old wheel into a new wheel of practically the same value as when originally made, and at a comparatively low expense, and the wearing surfaces of the reformed wheel are made as dense as the wearing surfaces of the original wheel.

In carrying out my invention, I take a wheel such as that shown in Fig. 1, which has been worn from a flange and tread shaped as shown in dotted lines, down to a flange 2 and tread 3, as indicated in full lines. In this case 4 indicates the hub, and 5 the solid web of the wheel, although of course the web may be solid or not as desired. I reheat this wheel to the ordinary forging or rolling temperature, and then force the metal of the web out into the flange and tread and reshape this flange and tread to the desired form. In this re; forming, I also preferably apply pressure to the hub to decrease the diameter of the hole the'rethrough so that this can be rebored to the desired size; and I also may force metal from the hub into the web of the wheel. In carrying out this re-shaping operation, I may roll the metal outwardly or forge it outwardly, or both; but the operation is preferably carried out within dies having a shaping cavity or cavities which give the proper flange and tread shape. In Fig. 2 I show one form of apparatus for carrying out this re-shaping operation, this being in accordance with the apparatus shown in my Patent No. 965,035 dated July 19, 1910 forthe manufacture of wheels. In this case the die 6 is preferably secured to the plunger of a hydraulic ram, while the die 7 is mounted upon an angular shaft which is rotatably carried in a rotating carrier the axis of which is concentric with the axisof the die 6. The die 7 is thus given a circularv rocking motion, which exerts a pressure upon the hot wheel along a radius, this point of application constantly shifting in the rotary rocking movement. The metal of the web is thus forcedout into the tread and flange, thus thinning the web slightly while at, the same time the tread and flange are given their proper shape by the dies. At the same time the pressure at the sides of the hub force the metal of the hub inwardly and preferably about a shaping pin 8, which projects through the die 6 and over which the wheel is threaded. This pin may or may not be used, but I preferto employ it. forming of the wheel, which is thus given its original shape of tread and flange, the wheel being of slightly less wei ht than it was originally. It is then preferably re-bored, and is ready for use.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, since in stead of converting the worn wheels into scrap they are made of practically original value by a single mechanical operation, which may be cheaply and rapidly carried out. The amount of work done in re-shaping the tread and flange to their original form is of course very much less than that necessary to originally form the wheel from the blank. 3

Many changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the die or dies, the mechanism for re-rolling or "re-forging the This operation completes the wheel, and wheels of different shapes may be re-formed without departing from mv invention, since I consider myself the first to reshape the tread and flange of a worn wheel while hot.

I claim 1. The method of' utilizing worn out car wheels, consisting in heating them, re-slmm has ing the tread and flange, and simultaneously 2. The method of utilizing worn car wheels, consisting in heating them, then thinning the web by rolling and forcing the displaced metal radially outward into the tread and flange to reshape the periphery of the wheel; substantially as described.

3. The method of utilizing Worn car wheels, consisting in heating the wheel, then thinning the web by rolling and forc ing the displaced metal radially outward into the tread and flange 'to reshape the flange and tread, and simultaneously increase the diameter of the wheel; substantially as described.

4. The method of utilizing worn steel car wheels, consisting in heating the wheels, then rolling them between opposing die surfaces to reshape and simultaneously increase the diameter of the flange and tread portions, substantially as described.

5. The method of restoring worn car wheels, consisting in reheating the wheels and applying pressure thereto to force the metal of the wheel into the worn portions to give the proper form of tread and flange; substantially as described. I

6. The method of re-making Worn steel wheels, consisting -in reheating them and then 'applyin pressure to force the metal of the wheel lnto substantially the original shape and contour of the tread and flange; substantially as described.

7. The method of re-making worn steel wheels, consisting in reheating the wheels,

applying pressure thereto and forcing the metal in a radial direction to reshape the tread and flange and give them the proper contour; substantially as described.

8. The method of remaking worn steel wheels, consisting in reheating them, applying pressure thereto, and causing the metal to flow outwardly increasing the diameter; substantially as de-' scribed.

in a radial direction in the worn portions and reshape them to the desired contour; substantially as described.

9. The method of re-making worn steel wheels, consisting in reheating them and then applying pressure to force the metal of the wheel radially outward to increase the diameter of the wheel andkreshape the tread and flange into the desired contour;

substantially as described.

10. The herein described method of reforming a Worn car wheel, consisting 1n heating the worn wheel and forging the same to increase the diameter of and reshape the tread, and rej-shape and thicken the flange.

11. The herein, described method of reforming a worn car wheel, consisting in heating the same and forging the rim 'p01 tion thereof 'outwardly to increase the' db ameter of and re-shape the tread, and reshape and thicken the flange. r

12. The herein described method of forming and re-forming a car wheel, consisting in forming a wheel having rim and hub portions, and after wear heating the worn wheel and subjecting the rim portion to pressure to force the metal outward and so re-shape subjecting the hub portion to pressure inward to decrease the axle eye.

13. The herein described method of forming and re-forming a car wheel, consisting in forming a Wheel with a hub portion and an axle eye, and after wear heating the worn wheel and subjecting the hub portion to pressure in a manner to force the metal inward and so decrease the axle eye.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

EDWIN E. SLICK.

. Witnesses:

JOHN MILLER, H. M. CORWIN.

the tread and flange portions, and. 

